A man who led police on a high-speed chase while they followed his movements with a GPS tracker will be spending more than six months in jail after a judge sentenced him Friday.
Christopher James Gallant appeared before Judge Jeff Lantz in provincial court in Charlottetown for sentencing after he was previously found guilty of break and enter and dangerous driving.
Gallant was arrested after a break-in at the Greco restaurant in Sherwood and a high-speed chase, although during his trial he testified that he was only involved because he was threatened by his co-accused in the case.
Hartley Coleman, the co-accused, was tried and found not guilty.
Charlottetown police had the vehicle Gallant was driving under surveillance, including through the use of a GPS tracker and an officer was able to watch where car was going before, during and after the break-in.
On Friday, Crown attorney Valerie Moore said a pre-sentence report showed Gallant spent time in group and foster homes, was involved with negative peer groups and had a history of drug use.
Gallant was a driver for a delivery service at the time of the break in, which included work for the Greco, but he lost his job because of the offence, Moore said.
She said Gallant was under the influence of methadone while he was driving, which was an aggravating factor, and he didn’t have a driver’s licence at the time, despite working as a delivery driver.
Moore recommended a lengthy sentence, although she didn’t specify an amount of time in jail and suggested a three-year driving ban, along with an order to provide a DNA sample for the national databank.
Defence lawyer Brendan Hubley said drug use was a factor, but Gallant has been clean since September.
There was little traffic on the road during the chase, which happened early in the morning and the time of day meant there was a reduced risk to the public, Hubley said.
Hubley suggested three to six months in jail would be an appropriate sentence.
In handing down a sentence, Lantz said there was some indication Gallant was cooperative with the police and while a second person might have had some influence over him Gallant was the author of his own demise.
Lantz said there weren’t many people on the road but the police were in danger by chasing Gallant and he was lucky no one was hurt or killed.
He then sentenced Gallant to serve six months in jail for the break and enter, along with 30 days for dangerous driving.
Gallant is prohibited from driving for 18 months and will be on probation for two years.
rross@theguardian.pe.ca
twitter.com/ryanrross
I think this is where we'd have to differ, solely on opinion. As I am familiar with the US Constitution, I'd gladly say that I much prefer living under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Having also lived in the US, which is quickly becoming a police state in some areas by the way (due to exploitation of the Constitution), I must also say I much prefer life here in Canada. The Charter does not protect the guilty any more than it protects the innocent, if someone is found guilty there is nothing in the Charter that makes them less guilty, likewise there is nothing in the Constitution that makes an accused more or less guilty either, so I'm not sure how your "bad guys go on technicalities" statement applies to either. The Charter is however, fair, and not vindictive or blood-thirsty, so sometimes, when evidence is lacking, we have to let an accused go, rather than turning them over to the will of the pitchfork mob. A shame indeed, but I'd rather let an innocent person go if we can't prove them guilty, then risk jailing innocent people! Now if they had a warrent, that's good. In fact, that's expected. My comment referenced not having a warrant, because of Jakolin's comment, which referenced a "if you have nothing to hide" mindset, which, of course, is a topic in and of it's own and is often discussed regarding police privileges extra-judiciary (without warrants). I'm not trying to defend the accused in this case, he sounds like a bad guy and the cops are doing a good job by catching bad guys like this. I was however, trying to defend our basic rights (as laid out by the Charter) from the "if you have nothing to hide" mindset.